Cardinals reportedly closing in on Steve Sarkisian as new OC

The Arizona Cardinals announced their defensive and special teams coordinators on Friday under new head coach Kliff Kingsbury. They brought in former Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph for the defense and retained Jeff Rodgers to manage special teams.

They could land their offensive coordinator soon, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortenson.

According to Mortenson, the Cardinals are closing in making former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

Sarkisian was the OC for Atlanta for two years until he was let go after the season. With the Falcons, he had a top-10 offense in years both years he was there. The Falcons were 10th in the league in scoring last season. They were a top-10 passing team both years. They were 16th in rushing in 2017 and fell to 30th in 2018 when they lost Devonta Freeman to injury.

He has extensive experience at the college level as a head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Whoever is hired as offensive coordinator will not call plays. Kingsbury will. What Kingsbury hoped to find in an offensive coordinator is someone to help him blend his offensive schemes with the NFL game.